LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Most horsemen are lucky to get one 3-year-old to the Kentucky Derby in their lifetimes. This Saturday, five trainers will run two each: Steve Asmussen, Todd Pletcher and Barclay Tagg, and Hall-of-Famers Bill Mott and Nick Zito.

Of those, Zito and Tagg already have taken home the roses. Zito won with Strike the Gold in 1991 and Go for Gin in 1994. Anak Nakal and Cool Coal Man will be his 20th and 21st starters.

Tagg is a relative newcomer. A veteran of the mid-Atlantic circuit before moving to New York, Barclay didn’t bring a horse to the Derby until Funny Cide in 2003, when he hit a home run in his first at-bat.

Since then, Tagg has become a regular. In 2006, he ran Showing Up, who finished sixth. Last year, his Wood Memorial winner Nobiz Like Shobiz was 10th. Saturday, Tagg sends out Tampa Bay Derby winner Big Truck and his second straight Wood winner, Tale of Ekati.

“I went a long time when I never had any 3-year-olds,” Tagg said. “Now I’ve got 3-year-olds. I didn’t get the bug for it at all. [But] how do you tell an owner you’re not going to take his horse to the Derby, if he’s in the top 20 out of 37,000?”

In previous years, Tagg didn’t ship to Churchill until a few days before the race. This go-round he switched tactics, as both colts arrived last week and had workouts over the track. Big Truck zipped five furlongs in 59.2 seconds Monday. Yesterday, Tale of Ekati went a half-mile in 49.2.

“I had them at Keeneland and wanted to give them a work over the track,” Tagg said. “I don’t usually consider that important, but this year I thought I would get them away from there and bring them here.”

For good reason. Keeneland has a synthetic Polytrack surface many horses struggle over, including Big Truck, who finished 11th of 12 last out in the Blue Grass Stakes.

“I’m not blaming the Polytrack on anything,” Tagg said. “He breezed well over it, trained on it fine.”

Tale of Ekati is the one to fear. He was named for a diamond mine in Canada discovered by his owner-breeder, Charles Fipke, who sent him to Tagg with one instruction: “Get him to the Derby.” Tale of Ekati won last year’s Belmont Futurity. He began this year finishing sixth in the Louisiana Derby after a tangled start, then rebounded with a determined stretch run to beat War Pass in the Wood. The final time for the mile-and-an-eighth was a slow 1:52.1, with a crawling final furlong in :13.4.

A son of Tale of the Cat, from the sire line of Derby winner Northern Dancer, Tale of Ekati is out of the mare Silence Beauty, a daughter of Derby winner Sunday Silence. His female family includes second dam Maplejinsky, and the fillies Sky Beauty and Pine Island, all winners of the mile-and-a-quarter Alabama Stakes.

“He’s got a pedigree to run a hundred miles,” Tagg said. “I wouldn’t bet against him, I’ll tell you that.”